slovcan Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 Hi folks, Well, one of the many notable things to happen during my recent Saddlesore 1600 (5800 km round trip) adventure was the failure of my Powerlet brand heated clothing. I bought heated sock and glove liners in the fall of 2013, 2½ years ago. At the time I was riding year round to work and back (150 kms round trip daily) and had never used heated gear. Anyway, then I retired so the new gear got used maybe 3 times – until now. It did work great and was extremely comfortable set on 3 out of 5 – perfect, not too warm, but warm enough – natural. So, the first or second time I turned on the glove liners on this trip there was a short circuit in the right thumb. I could feel the arcing and feel the current flowing through my thumb like one of those TENS physiotherapy machines, although not enough to make my thumb jump around. I only used them sparingly when my fingers would get really cold and start to stiffen in the mountain passes, but even at that I did get some small spot burns on my thumb from the arcing. When I got home I sent an email along with pictures of the burns and the glove liners to Powerlet and a brief synopsis of my trip. I expected some sort of customer service from them even though they were 6 months out of warranty. I would have been happy with a reduced price on replacements even. The Product Manager wrote back saying that my model had finished production in 2012. If I sent him my size he would see if they had any left around. I did and have written again, but no further communication from Powerlet. I am really surprised as they are one of just a few very big names in motorcycle touring support equipment suppliers. Try to find a BMW without something on it from Powerlet. My conclusion is for my future purchases, and I recommend for anyone else who values good customer service, I will not consider Powerlet products. At the time I was choosing between Powerlet and Gerbing. I see now there are other options, too, but now Powerlet is out. I will forward this letter to the Powerlet Product Manager as well as let him know which of my forums I have posted it on (all of them). Cheers, Glenn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted April 9, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted April 9, 2016 Glenn, My experiences are 100% the opposite with an identical issue in the past on their rapidfire productt. If you have not yet send fowarded your post, we can PM if you like and exchange notes. I am mightily impressed by Powerlet's customer centric approach and see this as a greatness of USA based company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slovcan Posted April 9, 2016 Author Share Posted April 9, 2016 Glenn, My experiences are 100% the opposite with an identical issue in the past on their rapidfire productt. If you have not yet send fowarded your post, we can PM if you like and exchange notes. I am mightily impressed by Powerlet's customer centric approach and see this as a greatness of USA based company. Hi Dutchy, I am glad they were good to you. Honestly, I am surprised at the response I got from them. Maybe my email was answered by the wrong person (or yours by the right one?). Anyway, I sent to replies their only email to me and have heard nothing. I have posted this on my forums so others will have the info to consider before they buy. I have already sent this plus the forum site names and membership counts to Powerlet. We will see if that gets anyone's attention there. Meanwhile, I will send you a PM. Cheers, Glenn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted April 9, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted April 9, 2016 and PM back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 Not really knowing anything about powerlet... I bought everything TourMaster. I crashed and destroyed the controller for my heated gear. I sent an email to them asking where I could buy just the controller... TourMaster responded by sending me a new controller. That is the kind of customer service which keeps the TourMaster name in my closet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted April 9, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted April 9, 2016 I have every confidence that this case too will be resolved adequately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Duc2V4 Posted April 9, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted April 9, 2016 It could be in who you talk to. Don't know how or where it happened, but I lost the toggle mechanism for my chin vent on my Schuberth Helmet. I emailed them but didn't get an auto responder saying they received my email and will be getting back to me nor did I get anything the next day. So I called their US office in CA and spoke with someone, explained the situation. He said no worries, give me your address and I'll put one in the mail no charge! A day later I get an email in response to the one I sent and the person explains that they do not offer these parts directly from their website and that I would have to back where I bought the helmet and purchase one from them. At first I thought this meant that the person I spoke with on the phone was back pedaling and that I'd have to go to the retailer and buy it. Maybe a day or two later the piece came in the mail! So I imagine the person who managed the email was probably following some flow chart and gave a stock answer, where by the person I spoke with understood my issue and made a connection with me as a person and decided to take care of my issue without any fuss or monetary transaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slovcan Posted April 9, 2016 Author Share Posted April 9, 2016 I will give him a call on Monday just in case he didn't get my email. Cheers, Glenn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LookingHard Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 slovcan, When I have an issue like this I send an e-mail not just to the department that it probably needs to go to but to any e-mail name/address I can find on a business website. I do this hoping that someone in the the business will check on my order or complaint to be sure there is follow-through. I especially look for marketing and/or sales addresses. Good luck. LH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slovcan Posted April 9, 2016 Author Share Posted April 9, 2016 Thanks LH. That may be a follow-up approach this time. Maybe a first contact method next time - the shotgun approach (without the shotgun!). Cheers, Glenn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted April 9, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted April 9, 2016 I would invert the gloves and show them where the contact points are located . And like everyone else I am sure they will accommodate you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slovcan Posted April 11, 2016 Author Share Posted April 11, 2016 Hi folks, I have some news to report on the Powerlet Customer Service front. A couple of folks on the various forums had commented that my customer service experience was different from theirs. One fellow from across the pond PM’d me to suggest I contact a specific fellow at Powerlet who had been extremely helpful to him. Turns out that is who I was communicating with. Well, today that fellow from Powerlet wrote to apologize for not replying in a timely fashion. Apparently, he was dealing with a multi-million dollar order deadline for a large mid-west motorcycle manufacturer. He told me he has a pair of liners (production sample) left over that he will send right out to me. Kudos to Powerlet. I take back my advice to others to avoid their products. When my new liners arrive, I will give them a road test and report back. Cheers, Glenn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted April 12, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted April 12, 2016 Wahey!!! Maybe edit your initial post title a little? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slovcan Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 Wahey!!! Maybe edit your initial post title a little? I will certainly do the title edit - when it is resolved (when I actually get the new ones). Maybe I'll do an interim edit. Cheers, Glenn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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